Anything you can do they can do better,
They can do anything better than you.
Not you, humans. They are computers used to design things, especially 3-D printed things.

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What happens when you have Deep Learning begin to generate your designs? The commons misconception would be that a machine’s design would look ‘mechanical’ or ‘logical’. However, what we seem to be finding is that they look very organic, in fact they look organic or like an alien biology. Take a look at some of these fascinating designs.

Quote:

“This is not only an exciting development for the construction sector, but many other industries as well. In the case of this particular piece, the height is approximately half that of one designed for traditional production methods, while the direct weight reduction per node is 75%. On a construction project that means we could be looking at an overall weight reduction of the total structure of more than 40%. But the really exciting part is that this technique can potentially be applied to any industry that uses complex, high quality, metal products.”

The computer calculates the stresses, knows the material's strength and calculates what is needed.
Fine, but what is the calculation using for data? Tables somebody gave it? Are the accurate?
If you tell it to design for maximum weight savings you get a design the is just strong enough for the parameters it's given.
If you tell it to program for low cost it depends on the data for a safe design.
I can see a lot of slaves in this woodpile.

The stress optimized designs are certainly weird looking. I've not seen any in practical use, that bicycle part looks like it would be an 'interesting' test.

Of course in an engineering design required strength is calculated, then a safety factor applied, cost and weight are minimized to provide this level of strength.
Light weighting is a big deal in automotive design currently, reducing weight to help meet fuel efficiency standards.

I find it intriguing how differently learning is handled by different "students". A group of scientists taught a group of captive-raised monkeys the concept of money by getting them to associate desired behavior with the reward of a small metal circle, which they could then put in a specifically designed vending machine for whatever food treat (visible through windows) they were in the mood for.

Not long after, they noticed something. Male monkeys were performing--and even over-performing--the desired behaviors. Upon getting their "coin", they'd either get a food treat or just hand the "coin" over to a female, who would then reward the male with sex. Yup, we taught monkeys about money and the FIRST thing they invented was sex for hire.

Now we teach a computer about stresses and physics and calculus and all that goes into this kind of research, and the stress-optimized designs it comes up with all look vaguely biological. That last photo, the piece that looks like it should clip together, reminds me a LOT of the structure of bird bones, which have just about the best stress-for-weight ratio found above the benthic zones of the oceans.

If the current political administration hadn't just gutted every bit of scientific funding (even NOAA lost a massive chunk of its budget...good luck directing your military without weather satellites!) I'd be a lot more excited about the immediate future of this kind of research.

I think that automobile frame would take a lot more than 5 minutes, even if repair shops had the capability. Of course it's a copy righted part so it would take awhile to do the paperwork and pay the royalties.

If I have an accident they straighten and weld my frame, how do they repair that spaghetti in picture 2? It's something that's going to be buried in a unibody type construction so I doubt it can even be accessed.

My fear is this leads to more disposable goods that can't be repaired. Sure, make it out of more recyclable material for the good of the environment. But disposable shit isn't good for the consumer's wallet.

The tea kettle dies and is unrepairable, buy a new one. The TV dies and costs more than a new one to fix, buy a new one. The couch costs more to reupholster than a new one. Buy a new one. It keeps creeping up the scale.

__________________******************There's a level of facility that everyone needs to accomplish, and from there
it's a matter of deciding for yourself how important ultra-facility is to your
expression. ... I found, like Joseph Campbell said, if you just follow whatever
gives you a little joy or excitement or awe, then you're on the right track. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Terry Bozzio